A brilliant round of 1st leg fixtures takes us just one step from the Europa and Conference League finals!

The story of the day was the shocking 3-0 United decimation of Athletic club at the San Mamés. We discuss Ugarte and Bruno's big days and Athletic's uncharacteristic defensive lapses, plus we have a hard conversation about the use of VAR in the massive penalty/red card decision that may have decided the tie.

Then we move on to Spurs, who confidently dismissed Bødo/Glimt, but still have much work to do in Norway to put away everyone's favorite underdogs.

In the Conference, Betis and Fiorentina played a thrilling match, where Antony and Bakambu starred once again. We talk Betis playing to their strengths, how Fiorentina got back into it, and what to expect next week in Italy.

Plus, is Johnny Cardoso actually the best USMNT player right now?

All that and some begrudging Djurgarden-Chelsea on this week's pod!

Cheers Ruben Amorim!

Timecodes:

Athletic Club-Manchester United - 01:05 Tottenham Hotspur-Bødo/Glimt - 33:49 Real Betis-Fiorentina - 58:15 Djurgarden-Chelsea - 01:21:20

This is Part 2 of our preview of the Europa and Conference League semifinals!

Here, we get into the bread and butter, detailing everything you need to know about tactics, matchups, players, and storylines heading into the 1st legs.

We touch on Athletic Club's exceptional consistency at both ends of the pitch, Oihan Sancet's rise to stardom, problem areas for Spurs and United against more stable opponents, the reasons behind Betis' midseason turnaround, whether Djurgårdens has any shot to hang with Chelsea, and much, much more.

Cheers Jani Honkavaara!

Timecodes:

0:30 - Athletic Club-Manchester United 19:45 - Tottenham-Bodø/Glimt 33:25 - Fiorentina-Betis 43:10 - Djurgårdens-Chelsea

We've got a two-parter today folks!

That's right, we have so much Europa and Conference League semifinal content, we couldn't contain it in just one episode.

In Part 1, we play a game of Start, Bench, Loan, or Sell with starters at each position of the semifinal contestant starting 11s. We debate the player's strengths and weaknesses, the roles within their squads, and their value in the transfer market. Then we take stock of what our choices say about each club.

And don't forget to tune in to Part 2 as well, in which we discuss all the upcoming first legs in detail.

Cheers!

Timecodes:

0:46 - Intro 3:15 - Europa League players 44:50 - Conference League players